Ukrainian Parliamentarianism, Parliament and 2012 Rada Elections
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NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE π 7-8 (136-137) CONTENT 2012 PARLIAMENT AND THE 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE: POLITICAL SITUATION, PUBLIC SPIRITS AND EXPECTATIONS Founded and published by: (Аnalytical report by the Razumkov Centre) ................................................... 2 1. PARLIAMENTARISM IN UKRAINE: INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT, STATE AND TRENDS .........................................................................................3 2. UKRAINE’S 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: UKRAINIAN CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC & POLITICAL STUDIES LEGISLATION, ELECTORAL SUBJECTS AND THEIR POWERS ...............................19 NAMED AFTER OLEXANDER RAZUMKOV 3. SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY BEFORE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ...........................................................28 Director General Anatoliy Rachok Editor Valeriya Klymenko 4. PUBLIC SPIRITS DURING THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN Layout and design Oleksandr Shaptala AND EXPECTATIONS FROM THE NEW PARLIAMENT ......................................55 Technical support Volodymyr Kekukh 5. CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS ................................................................. 76 EXPERTS ON PARLIAMENT AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE ........ 80 This journal is registered with the State Committee of Ukraine for Information Policy, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARISM: ISSUES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS registration certificate KB №4122 (Interviews) ............................................................................................................ 86 Stepan HAVRYSH, Volodymyr LYTVYN, Viktor MEDVEDCHUK, Published in Ukrainian and English Oleksandr MOROZ, Viktor MUSIAKA, Arseniy YATSENYUK Circulation: 3,800 copies UKRAINE ON THE EVE OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: WILL THE EXPECTATIONS OF CITIZENS COME TRUE? Editorial address: (Roundtable Discussions) ...................................................................................... 93 16 Lavrska str., 2nd floor, Eleanor VALENTINE, Valentyn NALYVAICHENKO, Ksenia LIAPINA, Viktor CHUMAK Kyiv, 01015 Vitaliy BALA, Yuriy HANUSHCHAK, Ihor ZHDANOV, Mykola KNIAZHYTSKYI, tel.: (380 44) 201-11-98 Viktor NEBOZHENKO, Oleksandr BARABASH, Olha AIVAZOVSKA, fax: (380 44) 201-11-99 Andriy ILLYENKO, Volodymyr FESENKO, Yevhen SUSLOV, e-mail: [email protected] Pavlo ROZENKO, Oleksiy KLIASHTORNYI, Mykola MELNYK web site: www.razumkov.org.ua ANNEX 1 ELECTION PROGRAMMES OF MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES, THEIR SLOGANS, PRIORITIES, APPROACHES TO PROBLEM SOLVING .............................................. 107 Reprinted or used materials must refer to “National Security & Defence” ANNEX 2 LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK SUPPORTING THE ACTIVITY OF MPs ..... 114 Photos: ukrajinciberlinu.files.wordpress.com – cover news.nikcity.com – р.37 ukrday.com – р.39 i.obozrevatel.ua – р.71, 89 pravo-kiev.com – р.88 l.bp.blogspot.com – р.92 The project is supported by the USAID Mission to Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus in accordance with the terms of the agreement No.AID 121-A-00-03-00008 (The Parliamentary Development Project II: Legislative Policy Development Project). The views and statements expressed by the authors of the publication are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of USAID, PDP II, the Ohio State University. Online version of the publication is presented on the PDP II web site: http://www.pdp.org.ua. © Razumkov Centre, 2012 Publication of the journal is sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (US). PARLIAMENT AND THE 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE: POLITICAL SITUATION, PUBLIC SPIRITS AND EXPECTATIONS* ormation of parliamentarism in Ukraine has been a long and complex process reflecting all the difficulties F of structuring the Ukrainian society, imperfect state and party building, and improper political and legal culture of national politics. Now, the country goes through an electoral campaign for the seventh Parliament. However, there are no grounds to speak of established principles and correspondence of the national parliamentarism to democratic standards, a stable legislative framework for parliamentary elections and constitutional status, powers and functions of parliament. Almost every election campaign has taken place under a new law, which changes not only the procedures but also the electoral system; the Parliament’s role and place in the national system of state governance also has been changing. The latest change occurred as the result of reinstatement of Ukraine’s Constitution in the wording of 1996 in 2010. The Verkhovna Rada of the 6th convocation gave consent to that act, having initiated dangerous trends of gradual weakening of the constitutional status of the Ukrainian Parliament, narrowing its powers, and enhancing its accountability to the President. At the same time, there have been trends toward declining quality of legislative process, and deteriorating performance of its representative, statuary and supervisory functions by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. All this has led to a critically low level of public support for the parliamentary activity, which, according to the polls, barely exceeded 4% last year. Such a situation may discredit in the eyes of the Ukrainian society the very concept of parliamentarism as a political institution and democratic principles of state governance as a whole. In such conditions, the importance of the ongoing parliamentary elections has been increasing. Their results will effectively determine the fate of the Ukrainian parliamentarism and key features of further foreign and domestic policy of the country. First, the election results will give an answer to the question whether or not the growing authoritarian trends and the curtailment of democracy and parliamentarism are finally halted, and whether or not the country returns to a course of progressive development and democratisation of state governance and the entire political system. Second, the elections may seriously influence Ukraine’s foreign policy. Should they be recognised undemocratic and the relevant sanctions imposed against the Ukrainian side, there arises a threat of suspending Ukraine’s European integration and curtailing contacts with the EU. An alternative to the isolation from the West could be integration with the East (accession to the Customs Union), which will make Ukraine a satellite state serving the interests of Russia. The analysis of the ongoing election campaign reveals numerous violations of the electoral legislation, above all, on the part of the authorities and political forces loyal to the government. Misuse of administrative resources, direct and indirect vote buying, interference with election campaigning of opposition parties and candidates – all that have reached an unprecedented scale. The indifference of law-enforcement agencies neglecting the demands and complaints not only of the opposition but also of the Central Election Commission has been striking. It is, however, the people who determine the election results. Therefore, the main task of all the participants of the electoral process and the civil society is to ensure an utmost transparency, openness and fairness during voting and vote tabulation on the Election Day and by all legitimate means prevent any fraud of the citizens’ will. The report consists of five sections. The first discusses the specifics and trends of parliamentarism in Ukraine, analyzes institutional support and features section of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 6th convocation, assesses its performance of representative, statuary and supervisory functions. The second discusses the electoral legislation, its advantages and disadvantages, the rights of all participants involved in section electoral process. The third examines the socio-economic situation in the country before the elections, assesses its impact on the social section wellbeing of voters, observes an overall compliance with fundamental civil rights directly pertaining to the electoral process – the right to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and free expression. The fourth building on results of the public opinion poll, describes public attitude toward elections and public expectations section from the new Parliament. The fifth provides general conclusions arising from the presented research and proposals for improving the efficiency of section the new Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. * The Report builds on the results of polls conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service in different periods. During each poll, over 2,000 respondents aged above 18 years were polled in all regions of Ukraine. The margin of error is 2.3%. The regional distribution of answers is presented on the basis of the poll conducted by GfK Ukraine research company, Sociological Group “RATING”, SOCIS Centre for Social and Marketing Research and the Razumkov Centre on July 27 - August 9, 2012. 10,979 respondents aged above 18 years were polled in all regions of Ukraine. The margin of error is 1%. The margin of error for each region is 5%. The text uses the term “party voters”, meaning citizens who, according to the poll results, reported readiness to vote for that party; “passing” or “leading” parties are those that, according to the poll results, may pass the 5% election threshold. 2 • RAZUMKOV CENTRE • NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE • №7-8, 2012 1. PARLIAMENTARISM IN UKRAINE: INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT, STATE AND TRENDS stablishment of parliamentarism in Ukraine in its democratic sense dates back to the times E when the Ukraine became a sovereign and independent state. However, that process is still far from completion.